


Where the Heart Is

by FallLover



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus AU sort of, M/M, Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human) - Freeform, Past Character Death, RK900's name is nathan, References to Depression, Tina Chen/North - Freeform, implied sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-13 00:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21485602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallLover/pseuds/FallLover
Summary: Sort of "Klaus"!AU. Nathan is somewhat bored with his life of constantly living in his far superior brother's shadow. So he heads out to a friend's place for a well-earned vacation, and runs right into a slightly grumpy shut-in who has some painful secrets.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 8
Kudos: 61





	Where the Heart Is

Nathan said it was friendship that made him finally say yes to Markus’ offer to come stay at Markus’ place for vacation. Nathan hadn’t seen Markus since the man’s wedding, and Nathan… missed him. Markus was one of Nathan’s only friends during college.

It definitely wasn’t that Connor was again being rewarded for his work, earning some new award for something. Nathan pretended he didn’t know the name or the number of people who’d earned it or what it was for. It wasn’t that Amanda was there to help hand Connor the award, smiling, in one of those rare opportunities she smiled at anyone, let alone her children. It wasn’t that Amanda asked, again, why Nathan didn’t seem as ambitious as his brother to better his work.

His work was fine. His work was functional. His work was dependable. But it wasn’t _Connor’s_.

That last bit he didn’t say.

And Connor was nice enough. He adored Nathan. But he was often focused on his own work. On his adoring fans. On his boyfriend, Hank. On their dogs. On his lovely happy little life that just seemed to keep getting better and better, while Nathan… muddled along.

Nathan didn’t know what was wrong with him, really. Why he didn’t feel the drive to do better as much as he should have. Oh he tried. But it never seemed enough.

So he packed his bags and headed out to visit Markus for a month or so.

“When you said you wanted to go somewhere for inspiration, I didn’t realize you meant the middle of literal nowhere,” Nathan commented as they boarded the ferry to the island where Markus lived.

Markus laughed. He seemed so much happier than he appeared in Nathan’s memories. Markus had struggled with depression in college, too, his own sibling-felt inadequacies adding to the mix, even if Markus’ work was far superior to Leo’s. Still. Markus seemed to grin all the time now. He stood taller. He seemed more comfortable in his own skin. Nathan felt like even more of a stranger in his own.

Jericho was a quiet town on an island in what could only be described as the Bermuda Triangle if Nathan had to point it out on a map to someone.

“All those years of engineering classes and you can’t even read a damn map,” Markus tsked. “I see how it is. I thought you science majors were supposed to be smart?”

“Oh I’m smart,” Nathan replied. “Smart enough not to live where axe murderers probably plan their vacations.”

Markus grinned at him.

Really the town wasn’t _that_ awful. A bit too quiet. Few roads. Few cars. Few passersby. People smiled at them and looked at them curiously and there were lights in windows and open shops. Nathan was a bit distracted by how he felt like he was going to freeze his arms off.

Markus’ home was a pleasant, _warm_ little house. Simon opened the door to welcome them, cups of hot apple cider awaiting them.

Nathan hadn’t been that close to Simon. Nathan had run into Markus by accident during a required freshman seminar, and the friendship had somehow lasted through school. Simon had joined their friend group late in their college years. Simon was a music student. Markus was architecture. Nathan was mechanical engineering. It was just sometimes hard to form close friendships with someone whom you primarily knew secondhand, after Markus had flirted with him during breakfast a few times. They hadn’t spoken at the wedding, which Nathan regretted. But Simon was busy with other things.

Still, Simon was kind, now. He asked after Nathan’s life since last they saw him, updated him on some of the things they might get up to.

Nathan leaned back, watching Markus and Simon chatter on the couch together, talking about plans for fun.

Nathan settled in for the night and wished he’d brought graph paper or something to keep him busy. His phone wasn’t sufficient. He didn’t have anyone he wanted to text and he didn’t feel like responding to Connor other than “I got here safe. It’s not full of serial killers.”

“Glad you’re safe! Hope you have fun!”

Nathan sighed and put the phone down.

They went ice-skating. Skiing. Whale-watching. Even ice-fishing, which Nathan hated. They watched an ice-carving contest, which was interesting, at least. Nathan caught up on some books he’d wanted to read, some podcasts he was behind on, and was grateful that the place somehow had decent Internet connectivity. They played team video games at night and rehashed college stories during meals.

Nathan went over to the neighbor’s house sometimes to cook while Markus and Simon were off at work. She came over to Markus and Simon’s one night for drinks and she and Nathan somehow hit it off. Their friendship was sharp, but somehow comfortable. North was the local vet. She had odd hours, and frequently chatted while cooking things. They made all kinds of pastries, which Markus and Simon would usually later share. Nathan heartily encouraged North to ask out the ferry owner, Tina, when Nathan caught North eyeing the other woman a few times as they walked around town. When North finally followed through on her promise to do so, they celebrated.

It was a day when Markus, Simon, and North were all busy working and Nathan didn’t feel like spending the day reading when he went exploring in the local forest, thinking maybe to get some nice snow pictures for Connor. Connor loved environment photos, particularly given he was so busy at work and barely got any time off. Nathan had stockpiled so much leave that he finally put his foot down for this vacation, Amanda’s expectations be damned.

He was walking past a house on the edge of town when a piece of paper drifted from above and smacked him in the face. He peeled the paper off and looked up. He saw a flash of movement and glanced at the topmost window in the house nearby, where someone had clearly moved. He looked back at the paper that had landed on him. It was a child’s drawing of the house, with a face looking out through that top barred window, frowning. Nathan raised an eyebrow at the drawing, not sure what to make of it. He pocketed it, figuring he could toss it into a trashcan at a later point.

He found his way down an old path, clearly hardly trodden for some time, and came across some sort of lodge. It almost looked abandoned now. The building was finely decorated, and a few of the windows even had small stained glass in them. With the snow, he figured it could be a present workshop out of a fairy tale. He knocked on the door, but no one answered.

When he heard snow crunching behind him, Nathan realized he had wandered well off the beaten path, in the middle of nowhere, with no one knowing where he was.

“The fuck are you doing here?”

Nathan turned to see what initially looked like a relatively small bear holding an axe. Upon closer inspection, Nathan could see it was a man, covered heavily in a fur-lined coat. He carried an intimidating looking axe, glared at Nathan, and what skin peeked out through his hood was well-coated in scars.

“Uh, sorry, I was just um…” Nathan had no idea why he’d tried to see who lived here. He realized how nosy he’d been. How he’d trespassed. The lax ‘routine’ of his vacation had led him to wander too much without thinking of the consequences. “I’ll just leave!” He scrambled away before the man could grab him.

Nathan forgot about the picture in his pocket. He didn’t see it flop out onto the snow as he ran off. He didn’t see the man with an axe pick it up.

Nathan ran back to town, puffing and panting. He wasn’t the most fit person in the world by any stretch of the imagination. He grabbed lunch and relaxed a bit. He laughed at himself. He was acting like a child harassing the town shut-in. He decided to get the man an apology something. Maybe a pie. People liked pies, didn’t they? Even if Nathan couldn’t stand them.

He was walking down the main road later when he spotted the bundled-up figure sans axe. Nathan practically leapt behind the corner of a nearby building. He peaked around the side. Now the man was standing by a house, seemingly arguing with a local Nathan vaguely recognized from his traveling around.

The axe guy held out a wrapped box, and the local sighed and took it. A small child popped up behind the local and the older man handed the package over.

Nathan thought that was a bit odd, given who knew what could be in the package. Severed heads, maybe?

The child excitedly unwrapped the box and pulled out... a frog? She pulled on a string and the creature started leaping about, looking almost like a real frog. The girl laughed and chased after the creature in the yard of what was clearly their house. As the local - who was possibly her father, smiled at the sight, and other townsfolk gathered to see what the hubbub was about, the axe guy slipped away. 

Nathan watched him shuffle quickly away. He didn’t spare Nathan a glance.

Rather than stalk the guy, Nathan walked up into the crowd.

“What’s going on?” He asked someone, pretending he hadn’t seen anything.

“Oh, Mr. Kamski gave a kid one of his contraptions!” One of the women said.

“Mr. Kamski?” Nathan asked.

“Yes. He lives on the edge of town. Doesn’t come over here much. Used to run a really cool workshop and create all kinds of stuff. But it’s been a while since he had anything to show.” She smiled sadly. “You’re not local right?”

Nathan nodded.

“Well... his brother died some years ago, which is about when he stopped making stuff. Horrible. And so young, too.”

Nathan stayed up that night thinking things over. He wondered what had prompted Mr. Kamski to do what he did today.

He grabbed a pie from North after explaining somewhat.

“Elijah Kamski... Used to bring his brother’s cats by sometimes. Gavin’s a bit shy, I think. Gavin brings the cats himself, now. Quiet. Doesn’t talk much. Doesn’t come into town much, either. Don’t be a dick.”

So Nathan headed back to the Kamski residence, pie in hand. He found the man chopping wood close to the house. Same jacket. Same angry expression. He looked up when Nathan approached and frowned.

Nathan held up the pie. “I come in peace, I swear.”

Gavin huffed and went back to his chopping.

Nathan looked around, picking at the corners of the pie foil. “That was nice to do for that kid yesterday. The frog.”

Gavin shrugged. “Had it sitting around. Someone else might as well get something out of it.”

“I’m Nathan by the way.”

“...Gavin.”

Nathan resettled the pie in his arms. “So… What’s your story?” Nathan smiled. “I’m not local so I don’t really know anyone.”

“I came down from the sky in a pink bubble,” Gavin said. “What about you?”

Nathan laughed. “A sleigh made of ice and pulled by huskies.”

Gavin snorted, but Nathan could see he was smiling.

“So do you want this pie or no?”

“Where’s it from?”

“My neighbor made it. North. The vet?”

“Oh. …Fine. Why are you giving me a pie?”

“Sorry. For yesterday. Trespassing or whatever.”

Gavin shrugged. “You wouldn’t be the first.” He paused. “I guess I am sort of getting thirsty. Got some cider back home.” Gavin finished chopping and took the axe and walked towards the house. Nathan followed.

With the lights on, the inside of the house looked just like any other house. Warm and lived in. Various pieces of winter gear piled up in easy to reach places. Some interesting light fixtures made to look like stalactites, a nice wooden table that Gavin moved his phone charger and a stack of movies off of and gestured to Nathan to put the pie down. Gavin pulled his jacket off and set it on a coat rack, revealing a thick navy blue sweater decorated with snowflakes and some heavy pants and boots. Without the jacket, he looked just like a normal person.

Nathan wondered just what he expected. He tried not to stare at Gavin’s face too much. There were a lot of scars on it, and Nathan wondered what they were for. But he was already being rude enough. He thought that when Gavin wasn’t glaring, it wasn’t a bad-looking face.

“You live here alone?” Nathan asked instead, after setting his jacket down and sitting at the table while Gavin got them something to drink.

“Yeah.”

“You work in town or something?”

“No.”

Nathan sighed. “I can leave if you want.”

“You want a zoo go to a zoo.” Gavin poured out some hot apple cider after it had reheated and set it on the table, along with some plates and silverware. Nathan popped the foil off the ‘pie’ and was surprised to see...

“A super cookie,” Gavin said. “Unless that’s the oddest damn pie I’ve ever seen.”

“North totally lied to me,” Nathan said with a snort. “You like chocolate chip cookies?”

“Yeah. Like em heated up, too.”

“Sounds good to me.”

When Gavin put the cookies in the microwave, Nathan asked, “So why did you really give that kid the frog?”

Gavin shrugged, seemingly embarrassed. “…No reason. Just… did.”

Nathan frowned at that, but didn’t press. Gavin was nervous enough.

Once the cookie chunks were warm and they sipped their cider and nibbled, Nathan ended up leading the conversation. Talking about his vacation. Markus, Simon.

Gavin rubbed a finger on his glass. “Elijah was a mechanical engineer, too.”

“Your brother?”

“Yeah.”

Nathan waited, but when Gavin didn’t say anything, Nathan asked, “What happened of him?”

Gavin looked at his plate, then stood up and carried it to the sink. “He died.”

Nathan didn’t get much else out of Gavin after that, but decided to return the next day with some muffins. North asked outright, “Are you harassing him?”

“No. I think he’s totally into me,” Nathan deadpanned.

“So it’s a sex thing.”

Nathan raised an eyebrow. “Now North, you know I’ve never had a dirty thought in my entire life.”

North snorted at that.

Nathan ended up stopping by frequently over the next few weeks, just to chat over baked goods, watch some TV. Nathan talked about some projects he’d worked on recently. Gavin never really said much, but he listened when Nathan was chatty.

Gavin eventually revealed the picture Nathan had dropped and Nathan laughed. “Well at least something good came out of that, I guess.”

Gavin raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I met you.”

Gavin flushed and Nathan awkwardly changed the subject.

* * *

Gavin was reading when Nathan found him one day.

“Don’t you have better shit to do?” Gavin asked as he invited Nathan in.

“Well I was planning to eat all these white chocolate chip cookies on my own.”

“...Ass.”

They ended up talking books for most of the day. They’d read a number of the same books, but had plenty of recommendations for each other in amongst the debates over book quality. That got them into television and movies. Gavin heated some au gratin for dinner and poured some more cider. They watching a show on cupcakes, each shouting criticisms of the judge and the commentator and the cheap filming tricks.

Gavin fell asleep during one of the episodes they were streaming. Nathan hadn’t noticed until he turned to see why Gavin wasn’t sniping back at one of Nathan’s dumb remarks. Gavin was leaning back, his head rolled slightly over on the couch, his hands resting in his lap. In the light from the overhead lamp, Nathan could see the circles under Gavin’s eyes, and wondered how well the man slept. One of Gavin’s cats – a black cat named Enzo – was curled up in Gavin’s lap. The other one, a skinny orange sweetheart named Eliza, sat at Nathan’s side.

Nathan lowered the volume on the TV and pulled out his phone to read, feeling nervous about just leaving without saying anything, but also not wanting to wake Gavin up.

* * *

Gavin eventually opened his eyes and grumbled. He looked over to see Nathan leaning against the side of the couch, his eyes shut.

Gavin scratched his head and stood up.

The motion started Nathan awake.

“Uh…” Gavin said. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Did you sleep well?”

“I… yeah,” Gavin admitted. “You can go if you…”

“Oh, yeah,” Nathan said, standing up and looking for his jacket.

“Or there’s a guestroom, if you want,” Gavin continued, looking nervous. “It’s late and dark.”

Nathan blinked at him. He thought… was Gavin blushing? Nathan felt his own cheeks warm as he recalled the comment he’d made to North earlier. “Sure. I don’t have stuff, though. Like a toothbrush or shower stuff.”

Gavin waved a hand. “There’s plenty of stuff. Eli used to—” Gavin swallowed and shook his head. “There’s stuff. Here I’ll show you.”

The room was pretty nice, and even had an attached bathroom. Gavin left him alone after leaving Nathan with some spare pajamas, and Nathan wondered why Gavin lived alone.

In the morning Gavin said he was going for a run and he’d be back in a bit. Nathan declined joining him in the freezing weather and Gavin went off. Nathan decided to explore for a bit. He hadn’t seen much of Gavin’s house yet, despite the frequent visits, so he wanted to see more. He wandered around, looking at pictures and books, and wandered down one hallway into what he realized was the workshop part of the building.

The walls were filled with various neat looking contraptions. Small animals leading into more complex gizmos that Nathan wasn’t quite sure the purpose of. He noticed a rather pretty orrery that seemed a bit more complex than many of the ones Nathan was used to. While Nathan stepped closer to get a better look, out of the corner of his eye he noticed a blanket resting on one of the worktables, covering a lump.

Nathan walked over and delicately pulled the blanket aside, setting lose some dust he waved his hand through to bat away.

Beneath the blanket was a music box. Relatively simple, but shaped like a sphere and colored blue. Nathan picked it up and poked around it, curious. It was almost finished, but seemed to have been forgotten. Nathan tinkered with it a little until he got it working properly. He put it together and decided to surprise Gavin with it, testing it out to see how the music sounded.

The melody was loud, like a lot of music boxes, but sweet, too. Nathan couldn’t pick the tune.

He heard the creak of a floorboard and turned to see Gavin standing in the doorway to the room, staring at him. Nathan hadn’t turned any lights on. The natural lighting from the windows this early had been perfectly serviceable. But now it seemed to make Gavin’s look of shock ghastlier.

“…What the fuck did you do?” Gavin asked, quietly.

Nathan blinked, and realized he’d overstepped again, somehow. He never had this problem back home, where he’d regimented his life to such a degree that he didn’t have to worry about screwing up, crossing a line. But ever since he’d said yes to Markus and come here, that regimen had broken. He’d gone out to do random things, lived every day just doing whatever the hell he felt like. He had no one here to reprimand him for being overly hasty. For not focusing on his job. For not trying harder to improve. But when that didn’t happen, apparently Nathan was so unfettered by societal rules that he forgot that some rules were around for good reason.

Like talking to a shut-in who clearly wanted to be left alone, even if he set up his house like he was always ready for company, and had given a child a toy for no apparent reason. There was a rule or six there that Nathan had already broken, and continued to break, apparently, judging by the paleness of Gavin’s face. The way his hands shook.

Nathan blinked and said, “Oh, I… Sorry, I just saw it and… I get a bit antsy sometimes. I figured I could—”

“Put. It. Down.”

Nathan swallowed and set the music box down carefully. “I’m sorry. Really, I didn’t—”

“Get out.” The words were said so quietly, but sharply, too, almost like a snarl.

Nathan blinked. “Gavin?”

“I said get the _fuck_ OUT!”

Nathan stood up and ran past Gavin, heading for his coat. As he grabbed it and went out the door, he wondered how many lines he was still crossing. How many rules he continued to break.

He didn’t tell Markus or Simon why he showed up shaking at their door. They pressed hot chocolate into his hands and tried to get him to talk, but he begged off for not feeling well and went to bed too early, shutting himself into his room and wondering if it was time to head home.

* * *

In the morning, Nathan opened the door to Gavin, wearing his coat, holding a wrapped bundle, and looking terrified and nervous. Gavin looked at the floor. “…Can I come in?”

“…Sure.” Nathan ushered the man into the living room and Markus and Simon eventually left him alone, promising they were there if he needed anything.

Gavin put the bundle carefully on the table before he pulled his coat off and set it aside. He instantly grabbed the bundle again and held it tightly to his chest. Nathan sat across from him in a chair. They were quiet for a while, not saying anything. Eventually, Nathan started unwrapping the bundle, finally revealing the music box from the previous day.

“I’m… sorry,” Gavin said, still staring at the box. “I… I shouldn’t have acted like I did.”

“I trespassed on your good will,” Nathan replied, calmly. “It’s my fault.”

“No, I… You didn’t know. You know Eli he… when he couldn’t work on something with his hands or design things he loved puzzles and all kinds of stuff. Always busy. Always thinking of the next thing.” Gavin swallowed and looked up at Nathan. “This was his. Eli’s. Elijah’s. My brother’s. Well… It was a gift for me.” Gavin seemed to hold the box even tighter. “He was a genius, you know? Kind of like you. He liked inventing different gadgets and stuff or at least taking ideas that were bizarre and making them work. I liked fantasy, so I’d come up with random bullshit ideas for stuff, and he’d figure out how to make it move or do some trick or something. Make it functional. So we did that for a bit. It was good money. But better, it was fun.” He smiled. “I mean not all fun. Elijah could be an ass when he had the bit in his teeth for an idea. But still. Fun. When things were more comfortable, we started playing with the idea of making toys for kids who didn’t have much. Our dad was a bit of a dick, so… we figured maybe we could make a difference in some kid’s life who had shitty parents or just a shitty life. And that worked, too.”

Gavin scrubbed a hand across his face, looking off into the distance, like he could see beyond the house. “He got sick. We moved out here for… for fresher air. Change of scenery. I don’t know. It seemed to work for a bit. He was happier. But then it didn’t work. And he was making this stupid fucking thing before he… He said he’d finish it. Then he… he passed.” Gavin swallowed again. “Been… been a few years, now.”

“I’m sorry, Gavin.”

Gavin shrugged. “Happens. People die.” He looked down at the music box. “I never heard… I didn’t know that’s what it played. Our mom used to sing that. She died ages ago. I wish I could have heard it while…” Gavin sniffed. His eyes were tearing up.

Nathan stood up and moved around to hug him, careful of the music box.

Gavin didn’t push him away, even leaning into his neck a bit. Once his shaking subsided, and Gavin could pull away and wipe his face off, he said, “Thank you,” quietly. “For this. For… For giving me a piece of my brother back I never thought I’d have.”

“It’s an honor,” Nathan replied.

Gavin snorted. “Over-dignified prick.”

“Crass asshole,” Nathan smirked.

Gavin laughed.

* * *

They explored the workshop more after that. It was hard for Gavin, since most everything reminded him of Elijah. But Nathan would point to things, ask how they worked. Ask Gavin to show him what certain things did. Gavin pulled out his sketchbooks and Nathan flipped the pages eagerly, awed by Gavin’s skill.

One night Gavin was showing him how to use the orrery, and Nathan leaned around Gavin to get a proper look.

“Dude, you are _way_ too close,” Gavin said, lightly pushing him away. “You’re gonna fall on it and break it, tall as you are.”

Nathan laughed. “Are you calling me fat?”

“I’m calling you tall and… and sort of vaguely muscular ish. Even if you don’t workout really, which is criminal in my opinion, I hate people who are like that.” Gavin was babbling and blushing and Nathan found it adorable.

Nathan looked at Gavin’s face. They were _very _close at this point, their lips almost touching. “So that means you see something you like?”

Gavin swallowed. “You’re an idiot who’s too attractive for his own good is what I’m saying.”

When they woke up the next morning, Nathan holding Gavin tight to his chest, Gavin’s arms tracing lines on the skin of Nathan’s back, Gavin commented, quietly, “That first night you stayed was the first night of good sleep I’ve had since… since Eli passed.”

Nathan nuzzled Gavin’s hair. “Really?”

“…I’m not really sure. I think so. Hard to keep track of that. You just kind of get used to not sleeping well. But it was nice to have someone here with me.” He swallowed. “It was nice to have _you_ here with me.”

“Glad I barged into your yard for no real reason other than nosiness?”

“Maybe.”

Nathan laughed and pulled Gavin up for another kiss. “Same.”

They cleaned out the workshop. Pulled out some of the designs Gavin and Elijah had never finished or actually gotten to work on. Some things were varying levels of disaster, but when they stood together staring at a fully mobile dragon about the size of a table, they laughed and celebrated with a night of things neither of them particularly remembered in the morning, but left a nice, warm feeling to hold onto through the day following.

* * *

Of course, nothing lasts forever.

They were walking into town one early morning when they ran into Amanda Stern walking in their direction. Well, the two parties stopped in sight of each other. Markus ran up behind Amanda, panting a bit.

“Ma’am, you are… very fast.”

Amanda smiled. “I try, dear.” She smiled at Nathan and walked over to pat his cheek. She looked snug in her coat, which was what distracted Nathan from the fact that she pulled him into a hug. He’d expected a reprimand for spending so much time away from work. But she hugged him tightly.

“…Mother?” Nathan asked. He never called her ‘Mom’ in public. It felt too awkward. He wanted to, though. Still.

She pulled away and looked him over. “You look… good. I think this vacation has been good for you.”

“I…”

“When are you planning to come home? It’s been two months, dear.”

Nathan swallowed. “I…”

“Connor misses you. Everyone misses you. …I miss you.”

Nathan swallowed. “I just… I needed to get away.”

Amanda’s smile faded. “We made you that sad?”

“…I don’t know. I think… Yeah. It wasn’t… It’s just hard.”

Amanda put a hand on his cheek. “I’m sorry, darling. Come home. We’ll talk about it. We’ll… We’ll fix things. We will.”

Nathan smiled sadly. Then he heard snow crunching and turned to see Gavin walking away, back towards the house.

“Ahh, uh, Mother, can you… wait a minute?”

“Of course, dear, who was that?”

* * *

Nathan walked back into the house to see Gavin holding the music box on the couch, surrounded by cats.

“Hey,” Nathan said, kneeling by him. “What’s wrong?”

“…You’re leaving, aren’t you?” Gavin asked, quietly.

“What? No, I’m…” That had been the goal, hadn’t it? Get over himself, go back home?

“Yes you are. I know you are. You want to make it big in your mom’s company. Bigger.”

Nathan swallowed. “Maybe some things are more important than climbing the corporate ladder and trophies.”

Gavin snorted. “What, me? This?” He waved a hand at the building. There were diagrams on the kitchen table. Empty mugs from their breakfast tea on the counter. “You’d hate it after a while. It’s not challenging enough. You love challenges.” Gavin looked away. “I sometimes wonder… Elijah hated it, too, at times. The quiet. The calm. We tried to deal with it, but… I won’t do that to someone else.”

“…You could come with me.”

“…I can’t.” Gavin looked wistfully at the house. The workshop.

Nathan swallowed. He knew Gavin couldn’t leave what was left of his brother behind.

“…Not yet,” Gavin qualified, making Nathan’s heart beat faster. “Maybe… Not yet.” Nathan didn’t want him to feel like he had to leave. He wanted Gavin happy.

“Then I’ll stay,” Nathan said.

“You’ll hate it.”

“Or I won’t. I've been here two months, haven't I? And we don’t know. I don’t hate it so far. All that matters is that I’m with you.”

Gavin sniffed. “But your brother… you can’t just…”

“Connor wanted to build a branch office or something. I can still work from here. And who knows? He’d probably come out here to visit. Magically amazing as he is, he could use a break, too.”

“…You’re not serious.” Gavin set the music box on the couch and reached out to cup Nathan’s cheeks. Gavin’s expression was hopeful, but sad, still.

“I have never been more serious.”

Gavin laughed and leaned forward, touching their foreheads together. “Can’t believe I love you, you idiot.”

Nathan swallowed. “Well it takes one to know one.” He reached up and hugged Gavin’s chest. “And I love you, too.”

“Stay, then,” Gavin said, crying as he squeezed Nathan tightly.

“They couldn’t drag me away.”


End file.
